Seize Ground (3 Objectives), Spearhead Deployment. Object 1 in centre, Objective 2 in North West Quadrant, Objective 3 in South East Quadrant

IG setup first in North East Quadrant.

Blood Angels Setup in South West Quadrant.

(Harker’s Veteran Squad deploy in North West Quadrant near Objective)

(Baal predators scout move to within 12” of enemy lines and deployed smoke, Scouts deploy close to objective in bunker)

Turn 1 Guard

Across the ruined landscape, the Imperial Guard took stock of the incoming Blood Angel spearhead. As the Baal predators roared into flanking positions in front of the ruins and the woodland, motion detectors picked up signs of a scout unit closing in on a defensive position in the South East quadrant of the battle zone. Knowing they could not afford to lose such an affordable position, the Guard Colonel ordered the Lieutenant to take an armoured sentinel squadron and the spare chimera to go cleanse the area and hold the bunker. Turning his sights back towards the approaching and smoke screened armour, the Colonel ordered his second veteran squad to approach in their Chimera and turn the Flamestorm Baal to slag before it could harm his men. The hidden veteran squad moved forward on the North Western flank to take up and advantageous firing position and rained plasma fire down on the Death Company dreadnought, but failed to damage it’s armour. Meanwhile, the heavy guns of the infantry squads, the plasma cannons of the sentinels and the Battlecannon on the Leman Russ opened fire. In the ensuing barrage, both the crews of Baals were shaken, the Flamestorm Baal’s crew was also stunned. Shells rained off the hull of the Land Raider but none made it through. An ordinance barrage struck the Scout Squad, forcing them to go to ground but still managed to end 3 of them.

Turn 1 Marine

Seeing the devastating fire from the guard’s armoured sentinels and knowing the Scout squad was doomed, Tycho ordered his Land Raider to advance and bring down the closest Armoured Sentinel squadron. As the first squadron fell to the fury of the lascannon fire, the Death Company made their move and jumped out of cover towards the Southern ridgeline, eading towards the second Armoured Sentinel squadron. The Death company dreadnought advanced on the flanking veteran squad and hosed them with fire from its stormbolter and magnagrapples. Frag missiles and plasma cannon fire added to their woes from the 5 man tactical squad and the other dreadnought. Their cover proved insurmountable though and they only lost 3 men.

Turn 2 Guard

As the smoke screens cleared from the two Baal predators, it became obvious that the meltagunners had done more damage than they thought, a second round of firing from them and the vehicle exploded, the promethium in its tanks igniting in the volcanic heat. Shots from autocannons pounded into the second Baal, but it was the ethereal strike from the Psyker Battle Squad which managed to land a blow damaging it’s drive sections and forcing it to remain where it was by the Southern ridge line. The remaining Armoured Sentinel squadron, sensing the incoming Death Company opened fire but mistimed their shots, missing the Death Company in their advance. Heavy Bolter fire from a chimera and one off the infantry squads joined their righteous fury but the shots all but bounced off or were ignored by the marines in their advance. The Scout squad picked themselves up from the barrage, the noise of explosions ringing in their ears, just to be set alight by the flanking Chimera’s cargo. The infiltrating veteran squad, having been discovered opened fire at the approaching Death Company dreadnought, but once again, failed to slow it down.

Turn 2 Marine

With artillery rounds hammering the ground around it, the immobilised Baal predator hosed fire into the nearby forest, killing 3 of the infantry squad hiding within and forcing the remainder into a rout. The death company leapt skywards, landing in close combat with the remaining sentinel squadron, felling one of them but failed to find purchase with the second, however, before it fell, the two sentinels managed to end one of the company. Meanwhile, the Death company dreadnought slammed into Sgt Harker’s veteran squad, all bar the sergeant were torn limb from limb within seconds. Seeing his men rent asunder, the sergeant fled, but was cut down before he got a step. The dreadnought finally turned and advanced towards the veteran squad contained in their Chimera in the Northern centre of the field.

The Land Raider unleashed a volley of Lascannon shots towards the Leman Russ, but failed to penetrate the armour, whilst it’s machine spirit hosed a nearby infantry squad with its heavy bolters, claiming another life.

Turn 3 Guard

Seeing the dreadnought leaving the site of devastation, Guardsman Marbo, threw off his camouflage, pulled out a demo pack, took aim at the dreadnought, took a step to gain momentum, slipped on Harker’s remains and fell on the demo pack. When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of Marbo’s corpse, the dreadnought, did not even break it’s stride as debris rained down on it.

The Lieutenant and his flamer squad dove into the South Eastern bunker and claimed the objective for the Guard. Whilst the fleeing guard squad rallied.

The Psyker battlesquad, seeing the approaching dreadnought, tried to turn the fel arts on it, but the warp would not bend to their will. Artillery fire and rounds from the Leman Russ continued to rain down on Blood Angel vehicles and positions, but none of them managed to inflict any damage.

Landing hammer blows from their autocannons and heavy bolters, the guard managed to silence the assault cannons on the Baal predator.

Locked in combat with the Death company, the sentinel managed to shake off stunning blows and hold it’s on against the squad.

Turn 3 Marine

With the Death Company locked in combat, a Baal predator immobilised and two unclaimed objectives. The marines appeared to pause to consider their tactics. Unburdened of such matters though, the Death company dreadnought charged across open ground and powered into the side of the veteran’s Chimera, stunning it’s crew and passengers.

Seconds passed, and then with a roar, a plasma cannon shot and two missiles impacted again on the guard’s lines, claiming the life of the Master of the Ordinance from his vantage point, but ultimately inflicted minimal casualties as remaining the men took cover.

The Death company tried to attach krak grenades and land killing blows with their power fist on the remaining Sentinel but could find no purchase beyond shaking it’s crew member.

Turn 4 Guard

Seeing his lines under heavy fire and seeing the closing death company dreadnought, the Colonel decided he needed to silence the long range guns of the marines in the South Western fortifications. Radioing the coordinates, the area was soon under fire from the Storm Troopers, claiming the lives of two marines and silencing the squad’s missile launcher.

Supporting the infantry squads, the Leman Russ managed to land an ordinance round on the Land Raider, crippling it’s heavy bolters, whilst autocannon and heavy bolter rounds bounced off the immobilised Baal predator.

The remaining Sentinel managed to maintain the stalemate with the Death company, demonstrating heroic resolve but at the cost of its plasma cannon.

Unfortunately the Death Company dreadnought succeeded in tearing through the fuel tanks of the Chimera, causing an almighty explosion, claiming the lives of 5 veteran guardsmen and pinning the rest of the squad in the wreckage.

Ripples in the warp once again prevented the Psyker battlesquad from unleashing their deadly magiks.

Turn 4 Marine

The remaining marines in the fortification, backed up by their dreadnought opened fire, in seconds, four of the six storm troopers lay face down in the dirt, never to move again. The remaining two men broke and fled the field.

The Land Raider opened fire on the Leman Russ landing a direct hit, which looked like it might have caused some serious damage, but when the smoke cleared, it became obvious that it was merely a grazing shot.

Uninhibited by the bulk of the Chimera, the Death Company dreadnought proceeded to slaughter the guardsmen trapped in the wreckage.

In the midst of the slaughter and the carnage, the lone sentinel tried desperately to hold off it’s attackers, but a lucky blow from the power fist crippled it’s legs and rendered it immobile.

Turn 5 Guard

Seeing the storm troopers in full retreat and knowing the dreadnought would soon bear down upon him and his men, the Colonel ordered the Psyker battlesquad to fire at the Death Company dreadnought. The resulting blast wave tore a blood talon off the dreadnought but also killed a member of the command squad.

Seeing their quarry immobilised, the Death Company finally managed to finish off their prey and turned their eyes hungrily towards the South Eastern bunker and the squad it contained.

Heavy bolter and autocannon rounds continued to dent and scuff the armour of the stricken Baal predator but failed to dislodge it’s crew.

Turn 5 Marine

Sensing victory, Tycho ordered his men out of the Land Raider and moved to claim the middle objective. Once unloaded, the Land Raider proceeded to crush the wrecks of the two sentinels the guard had been using for cover, underneath it’s tracks whilst it’s lascannons shook the crew of the Leman Russ.

Heavy bolter fire from the Baal predator churned up dirt around the guard infantry squads while the long range dreadnought burned holes in the landscape.

Relieved of their missile launcher, the remaining 3 men of the tactical squad set out to claim the North Eastern objective.

The Death Company dreadnought fired on the command squad with its stormbolter and magnagrapple, felling another 2 of the squad before charging the colonel and remaining guardsman. The Psyker battlesquad could only watch in horror as the wounded dreadnought unleashed it’s fury, rending the squad limb from limb.

Meanwhile the Death company stormed the South Eastern bunker; from outside the bunker, the crew of the two remaining Chimera’s could only watch as ichor splattered out of the bunker weapon slits and the screams of dying lieutenant and his squad were echoed over the vox system.

Epilogue

With their commanders and veterans dead or fleeing, and the loss of the only objective the guard had held, the remaining men fled the field. Whilst victory was narrowly awarded to the Blood Angels, it was costly. One Baal predator was completely destroyed, a second would require extensive repairs. The Death Company had only lost a single man and would need to be tended to by Astorath before long, while the Death Company dreadnought had been damaged but not enough to be subdued. The Land Raider had suffered the loss of its heavy bolters and would also require re-fitting. Most telling of all, though was the complete loss of a scout squad and two marines from the tactical squad.

Background

Water pooled in the ruins of a destroyed Imperial facility; collapsed columns, scattered ‘dragons teeth’ tank traps and blast craters littered the landscape like toys strewn from an oversized child’s toy box.

As the rain slowed and stopped, the objective the Angels were fighting to secure came into view. A PDF missile silo, it’s deadly payload preparing to launch and remove the orbital advantage the Angels had left high above them. Their only hope lay in permanently stopping the silo’s payload from launching whilst ensuring the jamming signal they were transmitting from the comms relay remained in their hands.

Setup

The Angels had so far only managed to land a token force. Mephiston led the task force, backed up by the ten-man tactical squad, Cassiel; the five man terminator squad, Maion; ten-man Death Company Jump pack assault squad, Ezekiel, led by Lemartes; the Death Company Dreadnaught, Hamied; and the Sanguinary Guard squad, Charoum.

The guard had dispatched a mechanised force to intercept and prevent the Angels from their goal. A Lord Commissar led the interception force in three Chimeras, loaded with veterans with meltaguns, plasma guns, lasguns and lascannons, two Leman Russ, one Leman Russ Punisher, a Hellhound and a Sentinel.

The Angels deployed first in the ruins on the far side from the silo. Cassiel split into two five man squads, with the missile launcher deployed on the far left in a crater and the sergeant with the plasma gunner taking cover behind a collapsed column in centre field. Mephiston and Maion secured the comms relay whilst Hamied took centre right and Charoum and Ezekiel formed up a hammer on the right flank.

The enemy tank formation arrayed itself with a Leman Russ on each flank, two of the Chimeras deployed opposite Cassiel’s Missile Launcher combat squad. The Sentinel and Punisher took up centre stage, covering the silo whilst the Hellhound and the final Chimera deployed on the inside of the final flanking Leman Russ, opposite Charoum and Ezekiel.

Guard turn 1

Before the Angels could react, the tanks surged forward, stealing the initiative. The Chimeras and Hellhounds all fell into column positions on each flank with a Chimera and the Hellhound taking the lead. The guns from the Leman Russ’s boomed and when the smoke cleared, three of Cassiel’s marines hiding in the crater lay dead, including the missile launcher bearer.

Angels turn 1

The Angels, surprised by the ferocity and accuracy of the Guards opening volley quickly reworked their opening moves. Mephiston took to the skies on ephemeral wings, diving into cover behind the ruins of the Imperial facility, whilst Charoum, Ezekiel and Hamied quickly advanced into positions of perilously light cover.

Guard turn 2

Taking advantage of the light cover squads Charoum and Ezekiel were forced into, the guard opened fire with another blistering volley. Bullets from the Punisher rained harmlessly off the Charoums armour but failed to prevent a lucky shot from poorly aimed Battlecannon tearing one of the men apart. Bolter fire bounced off of the front armour of Hamied and two members of Ezekiel burned to ash in the fury of the Hellhound. Another member of Cassiel’s men in the charnal crater died from a blow from a lascannon shot.

Angels turn 2

Leapfrogging over ruins on glistening wings, Mephiston closed distance to the Punisher. Charoum and Ezekiel broke cover and leapt into the fray, Charoum dropping into land between a Chimera and the Hellhound whilst Ezekiel landed next to the Chimera. Hamied shrugging off blows like insect bites continued his advance up the centre. Then, in a flurry of blows, his forcesword glowing with channeled will, Mephiston rendered the Punisher into scrap. Ezekiel succeeded in attaching krak grenades onto the hull of the Chimera, tearing holes into the infrastructure, stunning the crew, damaging the multilaser and tracks. Meanwhile, Charoum failed to land blows on the Hellhound with their weapons.

Guard turn 3

Seeing the Angels falling amongst them, the drivers of the guard’s vehicles decided to maneouver out of harms way. The Russ closest to the Hellhound pulled back, opening the distance between the squads, whilst the Hellhound pulled away from Charoum, squashing a member of Ezekiel who tried to prevent it’s escape. Then, the monstrous Hound, turned it’s nozels and burned down another 3 members of Ezekiel, shots rained down with even Lemartes getting hit but the blow failing to penetrate his shield. Seeing their transport wrecked, but not destroyed, the veteran squad inside the crippled Chimera opened fire on their assailants, killing another one of them, whilst some stunningly accurate fire from the Russ took out two more of Ezekiel and caught one of Charoum in the blast of it’s guns. A stray shot from the Plasma cannon on the Sentinel clipped Mephiston but failed to injure the enraged Angel.

Angels turn 3

Assessing the situation, Mephiston shifted himself skyward once more, touching down next to the Sentinel that had just tried to kill him. The Dreadnaught, Hamied turned to face the crippled transport and lined itself up with his magna grapples, whilst Charoum relocated themselves net to the Leman Russ damaging their red comrades. Hamied’s grapples landed on their mark and hauled the crippled transport towards itself, away from Ezekiel, stunning the inhabitants of the vehicle in his haste. Freed from dealing with the crippled tank, Ezekiel turned their wrath towards the death-dealing Hound. The blows began to land, Hamied’s Blood talons punching into the wreckage but doing little to it’s twisted remains. Ezekiel managed to secure some explosives to the hull of the Hound, stunning but not paralysing it’s occupents with their concussive blasts, whilst Charoum managed a similar result with the enagaged Russ. Mephiston, sword glowing, lopped legs and armour off the Sentinel, destroying the vehicle as quickly as he looked at it.

Guard turn 4

Sensing the situation faltering in the Angel’s favour, the vehicles took evasive action, driving throuch craters but ultimately unable to escape from the Angel’s superior mobility, the two mobile Chimera’s and their occupents concentrated fire, landing two non-fatal wounds on Mephiston but at the cost of an occupant plasma gunner and pulling the Hound and Russ away from their pursuers and closer to their objective. On the Left flank, the Russ rained fire down on Marion, slaying three of them with solid blows from battle and lascannon.

Angel turn 4

Enraged, Mephiston dived towards the closest Chimera, whilst Ezekiel and Charoum chased their targets. Plasma fire bloomed from the remaining members of the Cassiel combat squad, the deadly Hound erupted as it’s Promethium was freed of it’s metalic tomb and the vehicle cartwheeled midair. Of the plasma gunner, no sign other than a partially metled form could be found. Robbed of their kill, Ezekiel turned their fury back towards the damaged hull of the trashed Chimera being intimately examined by Charoum but failed to reach it in time… With glacial slowness, Hamied peeled the hull of the Chimera apart, exposing the veterans and the Lord Commissar inside. Meanwhile Mephiston proved the prowess of his blade oncemore and with a mighty blow caused the Chimera before him to explode. Debris from the explosion rained down, killing the Lascannon team inside and pinning the rest of the squad under debris. Meanwhile the Russ, was dealt telling and ultimately final blows with a lucky Krak grenade planted by one of the remaining three members of Charoum.

Guard turn 5

Seeing the Silo they were charged to protect wide open, with no friendly units close enough, the Lord Commisar’s unit fell back from their wrecked vehicle. Simultaneously, the remaining Chimera surged forward, desperate to ensure the Comms tower was at the very least contested. Further Russ sponsored hammer blows rained down on Marion, slaying another member of the squad but the Guard could do no more and forced the remaining member of the squad to fall back.

Angels turn 5

Seeing a chance to sieze victory, the Angels renewed their assualt. Mephiston advanced on the veteran squad as they pulled themselves out of the wreckage, whilst further a field, Ezekiel and Charoum descended on plumes of flames, boxing in the Lord Commisar and his squad. Cassiel’s four man combat squad pulled back and advanced towards the Comms tower, pulling just inside capture range, supported by the assault cannon remaining from Marion. Hamied lined himself up with the magnagrapple on the last operational Chimera.

Bolters blazed, Charoum claimed four of veteran squad whilst Ezekiel claimed one more. Marion’s assault cannon stunned the Chimera and then destroyed it’s multilaser in a hail of bullets. Then the Magnagrapple landed and hauled the stricken vehicle a short distance towards Hameid, and caused it to become an immobilised wreck.

Mephiston, sensing the doom of the Veteran squad that had just escaped the wreckage of the Chimera dived in, slaying two in lightening quick blows. The squad, demoralised and unable to injure the avenging Angel, turned to flee but were cut down to a man. Seeing their comrades slaughtered, the veterans accomapnying the Lord Commissar faced down the pincer movement of Angels, but could not withstand the joint blows from both sides simultaneously…

In a blur of action, Charoum took the heads of four more men with their two handed blades and landed an injuring blow on the Lord Commissar. Whilst the remainder of Ezekiel landed the killing blow to the last member of the veterans. Lemartes and the Lord Commissar faced off, a flurry of blows was exchanged between the grizzled chaplain and the Lord Commissar but neither could land a blow through the other’s shield.

With the majority of his men dead, most of his vehicles rendered non-operational and with a very angry Mephiston rapidly approaching, the Lord Commissar saw that he had failed in his duty.

Mission round up

Ultimately an Angels victory, but only narrowly. My opponent’s accuracy with his ordinance weaponry was horrific and whilst he ddin’t manage to wipe out an entire unit of Angels, he did do massive amounts of casualties accross the board. We agreed that vehicle of the match went to his undamaged Russ just for it’s sheer destructive and accurate fire. Man of the battle went to Mephiston, who proved himself once again to be worth his 250 points cost as he just tore vehicles and squads apart in his rampage. Most lucky unit (we didn’t agree on this one but I’m nominating him) was the remaining marine from Cassiel’s combat squad who was in the crater. Everytime the Guard tried to kill him, the man just hit the dirt and survived, unlike his squad mates. Funniest vehicle went to Hamied, whose magnagrappling was supplemented with the scream of ‘GETTOVA HERE!’ and causing much laughter with the results.